299
Fig. 9.6 Common fin fish and shell fish species reared in the brackish water is a major source of
livelihood for the local people of Sundarbans
monodon, Metapenaeus monoceras and Tilapia mossambica. These species are
reared in places where the salinity of the river water reaches around 15–20 psu
(Fig. 9.6).
At present, the major environmental-cum-socioeconomic issue in this mangrove
ecosystem is the proliferation of the shrimp farms. In the absence of any hatchery in
the entire state of West Bengal, the supply of tiger prawn seeds to these farms is
done through the wild collection from the estuarine and coastal waters (Fig. 9.7).
Thousands of women and children collect wild tiger prawn seeds by employing
nets of a particular mesh size to haul in the drifting community, irrespective of the
tides, and throw away the major portion of the haul (containing the juveniles of fin
fish and shell fish) after sorting out the post larvae (or seeds) of tiger prawn. This
practice results in a great loss of pelagic biodiversity (in terms of stock), which has
high chance to cause an adverse effect on the delicate ecological balance of the
system. A negative impact also becomes obvious on the prospect of demersal fisheries of the maritime state of West Bengal, due to such indiscriminate destruction of
the various species of fishes at their juvenile stages. With this background, a study
undertaken by me for a period of 10 years (during 2009–2018) aimed to highlight
the magnitude of finfish juvenile loss in different seasons of the study period. This
occupation has spread its root to such an extent that about 95% of the coastal populations living below poverty line are engaged with this destructive activity. It is very
difficult to implement a total ban on this activity, as these huge masses will face
extreme economic marginalization.
Fishing and Prawn Seed Collection
Fig. 9.6 Common fin fish and shell fish species reared in the brackish water is a major source of
livelihood for the local people of Sundarbans
monodon, Metapenaeus monoceras and Tilapia mossambica. These species are
reared in places where the salinity of the river water reaches around 15–20 psu
(Fig. 9.6).
At present, the major environmental-cum-socioeconomic issue in this mangrove
ecosystem is the proliferation of the shrimp farms. In the absence of any hatchery in
the entire state of West Bengal, the supply of tiger prawn seeds to these farms is
done through the wild collection from the estuarine and coastal waters (Fig. 9.7).
Thousands of women and children collect wild tiger prawn seeds by employing
nets of a particular mesh size to haul in the drifting community, irrespective of the
tides, and throw away the major portion of the haul (containing the juveniles of fin
fish and shell fish) after sorting out the post larvae (or seeds) of tiger prawn. This
practice results in a great loss of pelagic biodiversity (in terms of stock), which has
high chance to cause an adverse effect on the delicate ecological balance of the
system. A negative impact also becomes obvious on the prospect of demersal fisheries of the maritime state of West Bengal, due to such indiscriminate destruction of
the various species of fishes at their juvenile stages. With this background, a study
undertaken by me for a period of 10 years (during 2009–2018) aimed to highlight
the magnitude of finfish juvenile loss in different seasons of the study period. This
occupation has spread its root to such an extent that about 95% of the coastal populations living below poverty line are engaged with this destructive activity. It is very
difficult to implement a total ban on this activity, as these huge masses will face
extreme economic marginalization.
Fishing and Prawn Seed Collection